The Beast You've Made of Me
by Don'tWorryI'mBatgirl
Summary: After a night of patrolling, Oliver realizes that Howl has more control over Carynn than either of them had realized.


**A/N: So seeing as Howl's gotten a better reaction than I'd imagined...I'm going to continue with her. I'm planning on doing a few one-shots to sort of go through her history as a superhero,this being a follow up to my other one shot. I'm not sure how many more there's going to be but eventually I'm going to write a story. I figure this way the story won't be too long and you'll know the important details of her relationship with Oliver and the other characters.  
**

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"Prepare to howl with pain?" Oliver teased, Carynn grumbling to herself.

"Shut up. It was the first thing that came to mind alright?" she snapped. She plopped down onto her couch, throwing her head back as she let out a loud sigh. She was sore all over. "Thank god it's Dinah's turn to patrol tomorrow," she groaned.

Oliver smiled thinly at her, pulling his hood down and his glasses off. He hadn't seen her this tired in a long time. He couldn't help but wonder if it was simply from patrolling, or what had happened not but an hour ago was already hitting her hard. "'Rynn do you...are you okay?" he asked.

"Ollie...don't." she sighed. So it was the latter. She sat up, her fingers playing with the bullet necklace she was wearing. He could tell by the glazed look in her eyes that she was reliving their night over in her mind.

"Everyone makes mistakes Carynn..."

She rolled her eyes, their light blue color seeming to become darker as she looked up at him. "I almost got you killed Oliver. Because I can't control myself. How can you be so..._calm_ about all this?" she asked, rubbing her eyes harshly and grimacing at the black that smudged onto her hands.

Oliver shrugged. "If you haven't already noticed, near death experiences are included in the job description." Carynn gawked at him as he smiled. She couldn't seem to wrap her head around how he was simply brushing it off as if nothing had happened. "Don't beat yourself up over it," he added.

"...Maybe I'm just not cut out for this," she shrugged. "Maybe Dinah's right, maybe you guys are taking too much of a chance by including me."

"Okay first of all, don't listen to Dinah. And second, Chloe and I both knew what we were getting ourselves into when we asked you to join. Look at me," he said, holding his arms out and spinning in a slow circle. "I'm fine. All in one piece. Now will you cut it out because you're starting to depress me."

She bit her lip and nodded, smiling a little at him. "Can't wait until Clark hears about it though," she joked. Clark was like an older brother to her. He was constantly worrying about her and her safety, and he was always the first one to scold her if she did something wrong.

"Who says he even has to know?" Oliver asked, sitting next to her. "It's not as big of a deal as you're making it. If anyone asks, we went in, a few things went down, and then we got out. Simple as that. I know we're all a team but sometimes you gotta learn to tell them the bare minimum."

Something seemed to shine through Carynn's eyes as she looked over at Oliver. "So you're telling me that sometimes I need to lie?"

"Well I wouldn't call it lying..." Carynn gave him a look, Oliver sighed. "Alright so maybe it is. I'm just saying, it sure beats the hell out of having to listen to Clark and Chloe about being more careful."

He knew that look in her eyes. It was almost as if the very thought of lying to her friends woke up the dark side of her, and it was already trying to claw its way out. And when that side escaped, which eventually it did every know and then, Carynn was dangerous.

Not just to people around her, but to herself. Once it got out, she was Howl, nothing more. Carynn ceased to exist. And Oliver knew better than anyone else, that it was probably healthier to let Howl out. The more she tried to fight it, the more of a shell she turned into.

He'd seen it before. The way her eyes grew lifeless, or how she walked around like a zombie as cliché as it was. That comatose state ate away at her before Howl tore her way out and people were only left to sit back and watch.

Oliver wasn't sure what worried him more, the sparkle in Carynn's eyes at the thought of being even a little bit bad, or the fact that he hoped Howl might take over her soon.

"...I don't know if I could lie to Clark." just as quickly as the spark in her eye had appeared, it was gone. Oliver felt his body relax, not having realized he'd been tense to begin with. He let out a shaky breath, smiling thinly at her.

"Leave it to me then...you just, get some rest." it was the only thing he could suggest. He didn't know how he could help her, and that bothered him. Carynn smiled thinly at him, nodding. It was easy to see she was going to let tonight bother her for awhile.

Oliver kissed the top of her head, getting up from the couch and heading for her balcony. "Ollie?" he turned to her, Carynn smiling softly. "Thanks..." he nodded, the corner of his mouth raising.

"Don't mention it." he said with a shrug. "No really, don't mention it, 'cause then they'll know." Carynn smiled, nodding. "Later 'Rynn."

When he was gone, Carynn threw her head back and sighed. A chill ran up her spine as she remembered the look in Oliver's eyes just a few seconds ago. She knew it well. Granted she wasn't used to seeing it when he wasn't in a drunken stupor, but it was never a good thing.

But it had disappeared so quickly. She wasn't sure if she'd actually seen it...maybe she'd only been wishing she had. If Oliver's dark side was trying to get out, then that meant she could let Howl out. And she was _dying _to let her out to play.


End file.
